1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved magnetic reader. More particularly, the present invention relates to a magnetic reader assembly, a magnetic reader subassembly, a computer implemented method, and a computer program product for diagnosing a magnetic reader subassembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic readers are widely used in industry to read data encoded into a magnetic stripe disposed on the back of a plastic card or into characters printed on the bottom of a check. Magnetic readers are also used to sense the presence of a magnetic field. Three types of magnetic readers are the most commonly used: (1) a magnetic stripe reader that reads information encoded in a magnetic stripe disposed on one side of a card; (2) a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) reader which reads information printed using a magnetized toner; and (3) Hall effect sensors which detect the presence of a magnetic field, usually from a permanent magnet.
Presently, magnetic readers do not include a mechanism to self-test or to perform a self-diagnosis. Current methods for testing the operability of a magnetic reader require the use of an external device. As a result, in order to determine whether the magnetic reader is functioning correctly, users are required to purchase several devices and then connect them together. Furthermore, users must store and locate the testing device each time a diagnosis is to be performed on the magnetic reader. Consequently, users frequently fail to perform any diagnostics on the magnetic readers, which ultimately results in undetected and un-repaired failures for unacceptably long periods of time.